100 Top Contemplative Proponents Evangelical Christians Turn To Today

Over the years, many of our readers have asked for a list of authors who are promoting contemplative prayer. Well here is a list we have compiled.  This is from 10 years of research at Lighthouse Trails.  The list includes those authors who directly teach contemplative prayer as well as those who have consistently promoted contemplative prayer teachers. All of the names below are in one of these two categories. If you are a skeptic, this is not guilt by association, but is rather guilt by promotion or proxy. It is not possible to list every single contemplative prayer advocate, as the number of those in this category increases weekly with new book releases. Some of these names are not “evangelical” Christians but are to be found in either the Catholic camp or the New Age camp. We include those in this list because they are names that are being recommended or referenced by evangelical/Protestant leaders. We have found these names below to be the most influential in this area. At times, we will replace names with others as they come to our attention. If you need information on any of these names below, you can find most of them using our blog search engine or our research site Topical Index.

(updated 2/9/12)

1. Adele Alhberg Calhoun

2. Agnes Sanford

3. Alan Jones

4. Anne Lamott

5. Anthony de Mello

6. Basil Pennington

7. Beatrice Bruteau

8. Bernard of Clairvaux

9. Beth Moore

10. Bill Hybels

11. Brennan Manning

12. Brian McLaren

13. Brother Lawrence

14. Calvin Miller

15. Carl McColman

16. Chuck Smith, Jr.

17. Dallas Willard

18. Dan Kimball

19. Daniel Goleman

20. David Benner

21. David Crowder

22. David Steindl-Rast

23. Desert Fathers

24. Doug Pagitt

25. Emilie Griffin

26. Eugene Peterson

27. Evelyn Underhill

28. Gary Thomas

29. Gerald May

30. Gerald Sittser

31. Henri Nouwen

32. Hildegard of Bingen

33. J.P. Moreland

34. Jack Canfield

35. James Goll

36. Jan Johnson

37. Jean-Nicholas Gru

38. John Coe

39. John Michael Talbot

40. John Ortberg

41. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

42. Julian of Norwich

43. Karl Rahner

44. Keith Drury

45. Ken Blanchard

46. Ken Boa

47. Keri Wyatt Kent

48. Kurt Bjorklund

49. Kyle Strobel

50. Larry Crabb

51. Laurie Beth Jones

52. Leighton Ford

53. Leonard Sweet

54. Liz Babbs

55. Madame Guyon

56. Maggie & Duffy Robbins

57. Marcus Borg

58. Marjorie Thompson

59. Mark Driscoll

60. Mark Virkler

61. Mark Yaconelli

62. Max Lucado

63. Meister Eckhart

64. Michael Card

65. Mike Bickle

66. Mindy Caliguire

67. Morton Kelsey

68. Pete Greig

69. Pete Scazzero

70. Peter Senge

71. Philip St. Romain

72. Phillip Yancey

73. Phyllis Tickle

74. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

75. Pope Benedict XVI

76. Richard Foster

77. Richard Peace

78. Richard Rohr

79. Richard Rolle

80. Rick Warren

81. Rob Bell

82. Robert Webber

83. Ruth Haley Barton

84. St Anthony

85. St. Catherine of Siena

86. St. Ignatius Loyola

87. St. John of the Cross

88. St. Teresa of Avila

89. Sue Monk Kidd

90. The Cloud of Unknowing by an Anonymous Monk

91. Thomas Aquinas

92. Thomas Keating

93. Thomas Merton

94. Tilden Edwards

95. Todd Bentley

96. Tony Campolo

97. Tony Jones

98. Tricia Rhodes

99. William Paul Young

100. William Shannon